1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communications. More particularly, it relates to public safety and messaging.
2. Background of Related Art
An information owner may currently store relevant information on a personal device (e.g. a smartphone) via several known Information Storage Applications. For instance, an “In Case Of Emergency (ICE)” application enables an information owner to store information relevant to an emergency situation (e.g. information concerning medical conditions, allergies, current medications, emergency contacts, etc.) on a personal device. Therefore, in the event of an emergency, an emergency responder may click on an In Case Of Emergency (ICE) application icon located on a subscriber's personal device (e.g. smartphone) to access important, potentially life-saving information.
following documents provide examples of how data is saved via an In Case of Emergency (ICE) application: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_case_of_emergency, http://ice-app.net/, and http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-ice-in-case-of-emergency/id315171830?mt=8.
In particular, when an Information Storage application is first launched, a subscriber entity is prompted to provision medical/emergency information associated with the users of a corresponding subscriber device (e.g. a smartphone) into appropriately categorized data fields, e.g., individual data fields categorized for medical information, emergency contact information, indentifying information, etc. Once saved, information stored for that particular subscriber entity may be manually accessed on that subscriber entity's device.
Although current applications enable information to be stored on a device (e.g. a smartphone), stored information is still only maintained by the information owner and transmitted via manual methods.
The inventor herein has recognized that existing technologies (e.g. ICE technologies) do not provide automatic transmission of stored subscriber information. Rather, existing technologies merely permit information to be stored on an information owner's device, and manually provide the same for reading, as needed by others.